HERDchronicles

The 2020 season was a roller coaster ride for professional baseball in Buffalo. After the minor-league season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it appeared certain there’d be no professional baseball played in the city. However, a sudden turn of events in late July brought major-league baseball back to Buffalo for the first time since the Federal League’s Buffalo Blues played here in 1915.

As the coronavirus spread...

As the Toronto Blue Jays prepare to take on the Philadelphia Phillies in a doubleheader at Sahlen Field this afternoon, it's worth noting the Phillies have played in the Queen City before. The Buffalo Bisons were a member of the National League from 1879 to 1885. Philadelphia’s N.L. franchise began in 1883, so for three seasons they played the Bisons regularly. The Phillies came to Buffalo for six different series, playing 23...

Major-league baseball will return to Buffalo for the first time in 105 years when the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Miami Marlins at Sahlen Field on August 11. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will add their names to the group of players who have starred while playing home games in the Queen City. Buffalo has had its share of standout major leaguers during its storied baseball history,...

As fans wait to see if the Toronto Blue Jays will play their 2020 home games in Buffalo, it’s notable that there have been many major-league games played in the Queen City over the last 150-plus years. These games range from exhibition games to actual major-league games played when Buffalo had major-league franchises.

There have been numerous exhibition games played in Buffalo involving major-league clubs. The first such exampl...

Many players develop a bond with a city they play in during their career, but Arizona Diomandbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who starred for the Bisons' championship teams of the ‘90s and later managed the Herd, had deep-rooted ties to the Queen City long before he ever ever set foot here. “My grandfather migrated to basically downtown Buffalo, just north of downtown,” Lovullo said in a phone interview from his home in Arizona. “...

Of all the legendary players who have passed through Buffalo in its long history of professional sports, none has had a greater impact on sports or society than Jack Roosevelt Robinson. In 1946, Jackie Robinson played nine games at second base for the Montreal Royals at Buffalo’s Offermann Stadium. Buffalo baseball fans witnessed history as they watched Robinson prepare to break the major league color barrier the following spr...

Back in his playing days, Ken Huckaby had an idea he might get into coaching and managing. “I always knew as a player, with a little nudge from coaches I was playing for when I was in my mid- to late-30s or even my early-30s that I might have the potential to be ok coaching,” the former catcher said in an interview with The Herd Chronicles. “I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy it until I started it and figured out that I a...

In the long history of the Bisons, the team has had many outstanding managers. Legendary figures like George Stallings, Kerby Farrell, Ray Schalk, and Bill Clymer, as well as modern-era leaders like Terry Collins, Brian Graham, Eric Wedge, and Marty Brown have all left indelible marks on Buffalo baseball history by leading the Herd through unforgettable seasons, epic playoff races, and memorable post season battles. Their stor...

Anthony Kay is one of the most exciting young arms in a Blue Jays system loaded with prospects. The Long Island native was the top rated pitching prospect in the Mets organization prior to being acquired by the Blue Jays with Simeon Woods-Richardson last summer in the Marcus Stroman trade. The lefty is now the fourth rated prospect in the Blue Jays’ system according to MLB.com. In an organization chock-full of young talent, he...

Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play man Greg Brown looks back fondly on his five seasons calling Bisons games with Pete Weber and three years working with Van Miller on Bills games. Brown named the two Buffalo broadcast icons, along with two legendary Pittsburgh announcers, as having a major influence on him and his career. “My Mount Rushmore of mentors would be Pete Weber, Van Miller, Mike Lange, and Lanny Frattare,” Brown said....